New fees will be payable for chaperone licences from 1 April 2025.
Why we are charging for chaperone licences
We have been issuing chaperone licences for free since their introduction. Each chaperone licence application / renewal directly costs us money for the DBS check and ID badge (including recorded delivery). There is also the indirect costs of staff and rooms to hold the training sessions.
Other local authorities in our region (and across England) already charge individuals to process licences and we now need to charge these fees to help cover the costs of this process. We've kept the cost as low as possible with a volunteer licence costing the equivalent of £5 per year, this includes the provision of an initial training session and a photo identification badge.
How much the fees will be
- volunteer chaperone licence (applications and renewals) will be £15
- professional chaperone licence (applications and renewals) will be £70
When will you start paying for chaperone licences?
We are aiming for have everything in place to start charging fees from Tuesday 1 April 2025.
Any applications and renewals received before 1 April 2025 will be completed free of charge.
If you have any questions about this then please email cs.ewscee@derbyshire.gov.uk.
Apply for a licence
Apply to be a chaperone for children in entertainment
Chaperones are normally licensed by the local authority in which they live, therefore we can only issue chaperone licences for Derbyshire (excluding Derby City Council) residents.
The role of chaperone is to exercise a duty of care to the child or children in their care which any parent might be reasonably expected to give that child.
To obtain a chaperone licence from us, we require you to:
- attend a training session held at County Hall, Matlock, on a monthly basis
- provide 3 identity documents to us in order for us to proceed with a DBS check
- provide a photo of you
- provide 2 suitable references
- have an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
- undertake online safeguarding training provided by us or give evidence that you've already completed suitable safeguarding training elsewhere
Chaperone licences are valid for 3 years from the date of the DBS check.
From the date of application, it will take approximately 6 to 8 weeks before a chaperone licence can be issued. This timescale is based on being able to attend the first training session offered to you, and that we receive your DBS check result quickly.
For more details, email cs.ewscee@derbyshire.gov.uk or telephone: 01629 537859.
Renew your licence
Renew your Derbyshire chaperone licence
If your chaperone licence is about to expire, you can apply to renew it.
We can only accept renewals if you currently hold a chaperone licence issued by us. If you've moved to Derbyshire and hold a chaperone licence from another authority, then you must apply for a new chaperone licence.
You're not required to attend the training session or provide references.
We'll carry out a new DBS check and we'll contact you about verifying your ID documents for this.
We'll also require a new photo for your chaperone licence and ID badge.
Training session
All our training sessions are held at County Hall, Matlock from 6pm to 8:30pm. We're unable to provide training at other venues.
The training presentation takes about 1.5 hours, but we allow extra time so we can process your ID at the same time. When you attend the training session, you'll need to bring 3 ID documents so we can verify your identity and proceed with a DBS check. If you don't bring the correct ID, your chaperone licence will be delayed, as we must see your ID in person.
The next training sessions are:
- Tuesday 29 April 2025
- Tuesday 20 May 2025
- Thursday 26 June 2025
We may have to cancel training sessions due to bad weather conditions (snow) at short notice. If this happens and you have been invited to the training session, we'll let you know as quickly as possible.
When we receive your application, we'll send out a training session invitation for the next available session with spaces. You cannot attend a training session without being invited, due to room limitations.
Photo
We need a photo of you for your licence, which is emailed to you, and your ID badge, which is posted out to your home address. This can be a selfie taken against a blank background.
References
We're unable to accept references from family members.
We're only able to accept written references.
On your application, you must provide contact details for 2 people to provide a suitable reference. We'll then request a reference from them by asking certain questions to check your suitability to work with children.
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
You'll receive an email from our DBS team in order to set up your DBS check. We'll then verify your ID in-person at the training session, in order for your DBS check to proceed. Once we've verified your ID, we have no control over when we'll receive a result from the DBS check as there are several different factors affecting how long it can take.
If a trace is found then you'll be invited to an interview to discuss any convictions you have, to see if we deem you are still suitable to work with children or not.
We're currently unable to complete a DBS check through the DBS Update Service. We need to perform our own DBS check.
Safeguarding training
You are required to complete safeguarding training provided by Derby and Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Partnership (DDSCP), which is an online course that can be taken at any time. The course takes about 1 hour to complete.